AN ACTIVITY scheme for children with disabilities has been chosen as the charity partner for a town centre supermarket.

Customers at Sainsbury’s Ashbourne voted for Ashbourne Playaway scheme to become the supermarket’s new charity partner for the next 12 months.

The charity, which provides fun days out for children with additional needs or physical disabilities, will receive a year’s worth of fund-raising and awareness support.

Volunteers with the scheme take groups of youngsters to specially arranged day trips, offering them the chance to have fun outings at theme parks and other attractions and offering a day of respite for their families.

Sainsbury’s launched the Local Charity Partner scheme in 2009 and since then has helped small charities across the country raise £5 million.

Don McCallum is manager at the Ashbourne store.

He said: ““We’ve had a great response from our customers and we’re delighted to have chosen a charity which many of our customers and colleagues can associate with.

“We will now be working closely with the charity to ensure they really benefit from the Local Charity partnership.”

Di Lambert is one of the driving forces behind Ashbourne Playaway.

She said: “We know the success that the Local Charity partnership has bought to many charities in Ashbourne so when we received the recent phone-call to tell us the news, we were thrilled.

“The exposure and support is going to be massively beneficial to our charity and I’d like to thank every Sainsbury’s Ashbourne customer who voted.”